AP Language and Composition

1. AP Language and Composition Dimensions of Style

2. Overview • Sentences • Words • Figures

3. Dimensions of Style Sentences: grammatical type, placement of details, variety Words: level of elaborateness and formality, difficulty, technicality Figures: schemes and tropes, figurative language

4. SENTENCES

5. Grammatical Stuctures Simple • Abraham Lincoln struggled to save the Union. Compound • Abraham Lincoln struggled to save the Union, and Andrew Johnson assisted him. Complex • When the leaders of the Confederacy insisted that the rights of the states were more important that the maintenance of the Union, Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson struggled to save the Union. Compound- Complex • When the leaders of the Confederacy insisted that the rights of the states were more important that the maintenance of the Union, Abraham Lincoln struggled to save the Union, and Andrew Johnson assisted him.

6. Loose and Periodic Overall way writer’s incorporate details in to a sentence. Loose- adds details immediately at the end of the basic elements • Abraham Lincoln wept, fearing that the Union would not survive if the southern states seceded. Periodic – adds details before the basic sentence elements or in the middle of them. • Alone in his study, lost in somber thoughts about his beloved country, dejected but not broken in spirit, Abraham Lincoln wept. • Abraham Lincoln, alone in his study, lost in somber thoughts about his beloved country, dejected but not broken in spirit, wept.

7. Parallel Structure When a writer wants to sound • Measured • Deliberate • Balanced he/she will express those ideas in the same grammatical form – words balance words, phrases balance phrases, clauses balance clauses, and sentences balance sentences. I came; I saw; I conquered.

8. WORDS Diction from the Latin dicto which means “choice of words”

9. Selection • What words you choose depends on three questions: • What is my purpose for writing? • Who is my audience? • What type of text am I writing?

10. General v Specific Words Vary the generality or specificity of your diction in order to address your readers in terms most useful to them. Examples • Transportation physical health benefits • Automobiles cardiovascular health benefits • SUV benefits to the heart • Ford Explorer

11. Formal v Informal words Latinate • Facilitate • Manufacture • Interrogate • Maximize • Minimize Anglo-Saxon • Help • Make • Ask • Grow • Shrink

12. Common Terms v Slang or Jargon Slang “language peculiar to a particular group” • Old skool • The rents Jargon “technical terminology of a specific group” • Drop down menu • DKDC

13. Denotation v Connotation Denotation Literal meaning of the word Cool • Cold • Chilly Connotation Associations emotional or otherwise that the word evokes Cool • Unflappable • Icy

14. Figures of Rhetoric Schemes: artful variations from the typical arrangements of words in sentences Tropes: artful variations from the typical or expected way words or ideas are expressed.

15. Schemes involving balance Parallelism of words • Exercise physiologists argue that body-pump aerobics sessions benefit a person’s heart and lungs, muscles and nerves, and joints and cartilage. Parallelism of phrases • Exercise physiologists argue that body-pump aerobics sessions help a person breathe more effectively, move with less discomfort, and avoid injury. Parallelism of clauses • Exercise physiologists argue that body-pump aerobics is the most efficient exercise class, that body-pump participants show greater gains in stamina than participants in comparable exercise programs, and that body-pump aerobics is less expensive in terms of equipment and training needed to lead or take classes.

16. Tropes involving Comparisons Simile • An athlete’s mind must be like a well-tuned engine Metaphor • In gear and responding to the twists and curves of the contest Synecdoche – part used to refer to the whole • We decided we could arrange the gym equipment if everyone would lend a hand Metonymy – entity is referred to by one of its attributes • The central office announced new regulations for sports night.